🇿🇼Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls

Known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya, 'the smoke that thunders', this is one of the largest waterfalls in the world by combined width and height. The Zimbabwean side offers the widest, most direct views of the main falls, especially in high water season when spray can be seen for kilometers. Bridge walks and adventure activities like bungee jumping add to the appeal.

Hwange National Park

Zimbabwe's largest park holds one of Africa's biggest elephant populations, along with strong lion and wild dog numbers. Waterhole-based game viewing is particularly good in the dry season, when animals concentrate around a limited number of pumped water points. It sees far fewer visitors than comparable parks elsewhere in the region.

Mana Pools National Park

A UNESCO-listed floodplain along the Zambezi River, known for allowing walking safaris in the presence of large game, a rarity in African parks. Elephants, buffalo, and predators gather along the river's pools during the dry season. Its remoteness and strict visitor limits keep it feeling genuinely wild.

Great Zimbabwe ruins

The stone remains of a medieval city that once anchored a major trading empire, built entirely without mortar from carefully cut granite blocks. It's the largest ancient stone structure in sub-Saharan Africa and gave the country its name. The site includes a hilltop complex and a lower enclosure with massive curved walls.

Lake Kariba

One of the largest man-made lakes in the world, formed by damming the Zambezi River, now ringed by wildlife-rich shoreline and houseboats. Sunset cruises here are known for close elephant and buffalo sightings as animals come down to drink. It's a relaxed contrast to the more intense game drives elsewhere.

Matobo Hills

A landscape of huge balancing granite boulders scattered across rolling hills, sacred to local Ndebele and Shona communities and home to ancient rock art. It also holds one of the country's best rhino tracking experiences, done on foot with a guide. Cecil Rhodes chose to be buried here, at a site called World's View.